Category Archives for Energy

The Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) has engaged in the most impressive Internet of Things (IoT) projects that the logistics industry has seen. And their work is not yet done. Sascha Westermann, the Head of ITS and Intermodal Traffic Management, spoke at SAPinsider on March 21st about HPA’s progress to date and […]

No surprise that commentators, comments actually disagree with the point they are trying to make. Stating that modern ports don’t need to be as large as they used to be contridict the point they make later about having to built a new port to cater for expansion.

Fremantle port can dispense allot more TEU’s than it does now, but it is restricted with its trucks movements as not to flood the local road network with trucks, jamming the entire local network making its decades out dated road network completely congested.

What the new port crowd will not tell is about ports that are completely residential locked and with no space to expand, are they moving as the anti-port crowd wants for Freo, of course not they are mechanizing, becoming more efficient and investing in technology and infrastructure , something that Fremantle council fights constantly against.

Here is a couple of quotes from Fobres magazine April 2016 on the 2nd busiest container port in Europe with over 40,000 TRUCK movements a day. Europe use trucks for port and container movements, you wouldn’t believe it with all the anti-truck & car crap you hear from a select elite self appointed few in Fremantle.

“The Port of Hamburg is the second busiest container port in Europe, and is a key trade lane connecting Eastern Europe to Germany and the rest of the world. The HPA is in charge of providing efficient infrastructure in the port area: managing the real estate; making sure quay walls, bridges, wharves and other waterfront structures are maintained, maintaining 140 kilometers of roads and 130 bridges within the port area, and managing the traffic,

Over 9 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) are transported through the port every year, and this is forecast to double by 2025. But the Hamburg Port is located in an urban area and they cannot increase the size of the port to handle increased traffic. To handle shipments efficiently, the HPA must operate smarter. Better traffic management also helps to minimize pollution. The port and city are impacted by up to 40,000 truck trips daily and no one wants those trucks spending a high amount of time idling.”

European port can you believe, the statistics, nothing like the BS we here from the anti establishment crowd, completely distorting the facts on what is going on overseas to suit their own personal and political agendas.

So the second biggest port in the EU.

140kms of Roads

130 bridges

Tunnels (can’t do that in Freo the world may end our suburb may fall into it. Strangely the rest of the worlds cities, have networks of tunnels under them, Freo we prefer, folklore over fact and evil tunnel stories to scare our kids with.)

Traffic management, not anti car as Freo council but management.

9,000,000 TEUs movements, compared to Freo’s 700,000 a year, whats the difference, roads, tunnels, bridges, thousands of trucks infrastructure not quite the story painted by Freo’s anti car and truck political elite.

40,000 truck visits a day, WHAT trucks in Europe ins’t it all on rail, powered by wind and solar power, you mean they use trucks running on diesel in the middle of residential area with a population of 1,700,000 people not quite the same as freo’s 30,000 is it.

Never let the facts get in the way of a bullshit story.

Fremantle Hacked, Don’t drink the coolaid Freo your getting a con j ob story from a few designed to scare the mass for their ideological purpose.

Oh and for container ships the draft is only one issue for efficient loading we need cranes that can get out to width of the vessel the draft is less important as thats more about harbour depth and dredging.

Its amazing how just one new crane in Freo about 2103 significantly increased the efficiency of Freo port operations. Imagine what 4 would do?

So why do we need a new port which would need the same new cranes anyway, oh right, they hate roads etc, they will have to build twice as much road space to make their new harbour work, plus new break-yards, and have freight travel twice the distance, all in the name of efficiency and pollution reduction.

LOL. Where does the BS stop.

Oh and all that development still leaves freo for freight, trucks, trains, and passenger vehicles numbers worse off after they only invest in the new harbour.

Make sense, NO, right so “Dont Drink the Coolaid”, its all they are selling.

Waterfront homes for thousands of people, an international standard cruise ship terminal and a $1 billion boost to State Government coffers are key outcomes of an ambitious plan to change the face of the southern side of Fremantle port.

How many decades before such infrastructure could be built and with Fremantle’s geographical location would it ever warrant such a development for the cruise ship industry, the state gov would need to get commitment from the cruise industry before developing such a place, to ensure it just didn’t become unused infrastructure.
Barnett has already said live export would move to the outer harbour once its built. So why is bringing this into his discussion as its moving anyway.

No need to move the car off load for RORO and double the distance for cars to be delivered to car yards, just make this part of the development.

The picture attached of Broadwater is hardly a good comparison as this area of the gold coast is all estuaries, mariners, beaches, residential development, leisure activities parks etc.

The google link above to the map or earth shot is movable and can zoom in and out so have a look just touch and drag to explore it.

Not what fremantle harbour is, being active cargo port, narrow river mouth surrounded by concrete.

What escapes the Mayors grasp of reality or suits his latest agenda is without a proper road network how will the thousands of guests and crew, new residences, workers get in and out of the city area in a efficient manner.
He and his council have made our road system into a dogs breakfast with their Anti-car platform.
Not to mention he needs to remove the rail out of the way, as this will also be a problem for development of residential apartments with trains riding down the side of it with heavy freight rail at night. Which would just create another problem.

Attached here is a link (Click to see it) to a post I wrote a while back, doing some of things this idea above mentions, but also deals with removing the heavy rail from traveling through town,

Sorts out the traffic problems,

Opens the north side of Freo up to more residential use and provides better access PT to new residents,

Opens north Freo back to the beach fronts,

Slashes traffic movements down Stirling Hwy

Cuts traffic of South st

Diverts, trucks off Hampton road heading south or north

Removes passengers vehicles from Fremantle who are only driving through to get somewhere else.

Opens up poor used land for better use in the north port side

Brings back a village feel to the Tydeman road precinct, well till Sullivans try’s to approve a 15 story building for it.

Lowers noise pollution

Makes our local roads safer

Lowers emissions to the local area, by taking away the stop start of heavy vehicles making them more efficient.

Opens up the heavy freight line running south of Freo back to PT (Public Tranport), linking the new developing suburbs to the rail stations, with rail cutting the need for people to park and ride in town.

Giving space for more cycle and pedestrian ways.

Opens the possibility to link the north lines PT rail to Freo in a circle line opening up direct PT rail to Cockburn and the Mandurah line also allowing a rail service with one change to the hospital and Murdoch.

All while keeping an operational port in town.

Improving Freo’s Green space and lowering the amount of concrete surface our council loves so much.

In case it’s escaped his attention the outer harbour is not planned to replace Fremantle port but be a spill over once Freo harbour/port reaches a cap which is higher than its current container movements right now.

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Which will put more freight on rail without increasing the % moved on rail and will bring more container Trucks to our suburb as he was against the infrastructure that would have removed them. Being the PFL, Roe 8 or Roe 9 or which ever way its portrayed.

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So too add to the congestion he proposed thousands more to come to work, in the city and more visitors while he wants NO new roads, while increasing freight rail through town, creating More division and social problems and less car parking.

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Sounds like a recipe for disaster, but at least we have a rapid charging point for EV in town and guaranteed you can get pissed at a noisy concert right in the centre of a what was a quiet historic area of town, now heavily used for residential.

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Maybe that’s the plan with J-shed if the noise is loud enough from his approved, piss up concerts, it may drown out the noise from the trains.

Oh and Paul I think this is offering a solution while disagreeing with another POV, just in case you missed that point again.

1st its probably a bad business decision short term for they would need to redo their whole business model as it effects servicing etc. Not to mention the employees to be retrain for EV or replaced with relevant trained staff.

Is the education system for apprentices geared up to met the demand if it comes?

Distances traveled look at most countries that lead the way in EV sales the distances needed to travel are short, doesn’t really suit Australia.

A good laugh is the biggest talker of EV cars is Freo’s Mayor Brad Pettitt does he own one NO his private car is a fossil fuel based one.

If you recharge in a public place your EV is more than likely being powered by coal as that’s what generates the electricity.

Battery driving distances are short. Australian driving Distances are long.

The countries who are driving hard on EV have only lifted sales with huge taxpayer funded benefits. Norway is a good example perhaps one of Tesla’s best consumers, but now the government funded rebates are being removed sales are expected to plummet.

Tesla failed to make any real impact on China the worlds fastest growing car market.

The battery business is a dirty one rare earth minerals is a dirty job for 3rd world countries so western ones can drive their EV’s.

“In a 2013 report, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Design for the Environment program concluded that batteries using nickel and cobalt, like lithium-ion batteries, have the “highest potential for environmental impacts”. It cited negative consequences like mining, global warming, environmental pollution and human health impacts.”

“If the supply of rare earths falls short of demand in the coming years and no substitutes that approach their performance are found, makers of hybrid and electric cars will probably try to develop new motor designs that rely on induced rather than permanent magnetism, says Eric Rask, a researcher at Argonne National Laboratory. Before joining Argonne two years ago, Rask worked on the power-train system for General Motors’ electric Volt, which uses a rare-earth permanent magnet. But, he says, “the reason permanent-­magnet motors are used is that their efficiency is almost always higher in the range where you use it a lot—typically you can get more torque for a given supply of current.”

Few experts express optimism that there will be enough rare-earth materials to sustain significant growth of clean energy technologies like electric cars and wind power, which need every possible cost and efficiency advantage to compete. “The writing is already on the wall,” says Patrick Taylor, director of the Kroll Institute for Extractive Metallurgy at the Colorado School of Mines. “You want to develop this big new energy economy, but there’s a limited supply and an ever-increasing demand.” Asked how China gained its edge over the rest of the world, Taylor points out that most of the necessary expertise and industry began moving to that country nearly two decades ago. Back then, he adds, no one was even paying attention.”

Lately we have heard that Fremantle Mayor Brad is encouraging a network of electric car charging stations down south to the Margaret River area while it’s a great area and I love going there myself it has little to do with Freo?

I have written a few posts and commented on other blogs about the perceived ideology of the Fremantle City Council. Not that I am against the all ideas they have or drive, quite the opposite some I think are quite good, i.e. the solar farms using abandon/contaminated land for a solar farm is great, better than sitting there doing nothing. As long as the COF runs it as an entity where the ratepayers see a $$$ benefit I’m all for it. If it costs the COF ratepayers then that may be a different story?

Then there is their electric car charging network heading down south, is it a bad idea, sounds nice, will it be used much, not really, it was reported last year that about 700 electric cars were in use Australia wide. Now I take it from articles I have read that this network was to encourage electric car users to pop down south for the weekend? That’s allot of infrastructure, time and $$$$ spent to build a network to be used by a handful of people who most probably own a second car which is more than likely fossil fuel powered, even some of the electrics come with built in generators as the Holden Volt does hence why it’s called a long range electric vehicle. So with cars like why go to the expense of building such a network? Now if private enterprise sees it as viable and wish to pay for the whole things that’s great but I wouldn’t hold your breath?

So perhaps the rate payers and residents have to look at such issues or apply these questions, What’s in it for us, How does it benefit Fremantle’s greater city and is it the best use of our funds for the return we get? It’s a council not a state government or Federal government, just responsible for the greater district of Fremantle, not world events?

I went to a talk/presentation the other day at UWA an interesting Danish guy Bjorn Lomborg who has a great outlook on the world and how best to help it, he currently heads a think tank that helps the UN direct funds for its operations worldwide. It was a great presentation and I could not believe what a down to earth common sense approach he gave such big issues? You can argue with the politics of it but the sense and practicality of his approach was incredible. His approach on best value of return for $ invested was really great to see explained. His other major point was to many policies not enough priorities, he referred to the UN’s scattergun style effect on the number of issues they want to address but little prioritizing of whats really important, (due many i assume to the size and politics of the place, so many people to keep happy) and is really effecting the impact they have on the issues they are trying to change? Shame it was not a longer presentation?

The other question is that will base station electric charge cars be the future of clean energy vehicles. Currently Toyota is making a big push in fuel cells or hydrogen powered cars. Just this year Toyota announced it would free up its fuel cell patients for 5 years to allow the market to build and drive this style of car, of course its challenge will be its charging network, possibly why they opened up the patients, to drive a mass of vehicles to help build a fuelling station network.

Toyota FCV concept car

Clearly California believes in fuel cell technology with 8 hydrogen fuelling stations currently and another 49 in development. With passenger vehicles, buses, PT and heavy trucks using fuel cell technology. Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) play a vital role in the effort to improve air quality, reduce fossil fuel dependence and slow global warming. Several automakers are about to introduce FCEVs to the California commercial market in early 2015. Transit demonstration programs are underway and pilot programs for medium and heavy-duty vehicles are starting.

So it could be a huge waste of money to build a network based on electric recharge station with little use in the next 5yrs or so only to be overtaken by another technology? Is it really the best use of our COF funds and what will be our $$$ return on investment, is it done on sound business approach and best use of rate payers funds or is more of a feel good ideology which real deliverables, don’t seem to be much?

If carbon emissions were a concern to individuals why would people have two cars an electric and a fossil fuel powered one? Just image the doubling of their carbon footprint in relations to cars by having a second one, it’s a bit hard to understand if you don’t want to increase your carbon footprint, how do you think they made the second car, shipped it here and the disposal etc.

Speaking of carbons emissions here is a cut and paste from a USA today article on electric cars and a link to the page, “It is time to stop our green worship of the electric car. It costs us a fortune, cuts little CO2 and surprisingly kills almost twice the number of people compared with regular gasoline cars.

The main topic of dissent seems to be in the area between those who are adamant that wind turbines emit sounds and vibrations that upset and harm some of those exposed, and those who argue that the available evidence points strongly to health problems and complaints being psychogenic.

I love reading some of these things it’s great to see two seemingly opposing sides arguing the same point, i.e. if it makes people sick is it physical or mental, end of the day if it makes you feel sick what difference does it make? The mind is a powerful thing if you think something will make you sick it possibly will?

Just because it doesn’t affect one person doesn’t mean it will not affect another, as it is with a whole range of illnesses through our community?

Studies fromCanadahave shown the Nocebo phenomena is almost impossible to separate from putative direct effects. So pretty much the researchers need to be in an area for years testing people for conditions before anyone even talks about a wind farm to get real results to compare, but I suppose if it’s a mental health issue, there would be so many other factors that would change over the time. That would affect their study making it near impossible to compare the effects the wind farms would have on the population with or without a farm being there?

But it seems in all my reading the closer to the wind farm the more the issues, in the UK they have proposed rules the bigger the turbine the further away it has to be from residents, or homes.

I.e. Wiltshire Council amended its main strategy pre-submission document to impose min separation distances, no matter the local context, of 1 km for turbines over 25 m, 1.5 km for turbines over 50 m, 2km for turbines over 100m and 3km for wind turbines over 150m tall.

Possibly one of the reasons why Germany, has so many wind farms off shore anywhere from 400m to 90kms, in 2014 it doubled its off-shore power production. The UK is clearly a world leader in offshore wind farms ahead of Germany currently.

So it make you wonder with all the issues, people’s health, Europe leading the way in off shore wind farms, why would people want to stick them right in our Fremantle port, just 100’s of metres from residents homes?

If people think they are being made sick from wind farms and the stress of it, actually makes them sick, whether it’s physical or mental does it matter? The effect is there still the same, telling someone who is stressed out its just in your head, get over it doesn’t really help, does it?

You have to ask, if it creates such health issues for the community why bother doing it, when there are so many other options, without the stress?